Miracle at Colts Run Cross. Joanna Wayne

just think it’s important that I be here for Christmas this year. Can we just leave it at that?”

      She spotted the bank ahead and determinedly forced her bitterness aside. She parked the car in a lot across the street from the bank. Nick paid the attendant while she grabbed the large valises they’d bought for the money and locked the car door. When they left the bank, an armed guard in street clothes would walk them to the car.

      “I’ll take those,” Nick said, joining her and slipping the bags from her arm.

      He slung the strap over his left shoulder and linked his right arm with hers. An incredible feeling of déjà vu swept over her. Walking arm in arm with Nick, the valise over his shoulder, a feeling of urgency burned inside both of them.

      Like the night they’d rushed to the hospital for the twins to be born. Her water had broken and she’d been propelled into labor with strong contractions that came much faster than normal. Nick had flown into action, trying to be tough but clearly as frightened as she was. But he’d stayed with her every second.

      The image of him holding both the boys in his arms minutes after they were born pushed its way into her mind. His smile. His wet eyes. The tenderness when he’d kissed her and thanked her for giving him the world. She shivered as the memories took hold.

      Nick let his hand slip down to encase hers. “It’s going to be okay, baby. This is all going to be okay.”

      But who was Nick to promise a happy ending?

      DAVID WAS CURLED UP in a smelly old chair with stains all over it. He looked like he was asleep, but Derrick saw his eyes move every now and then and figured he was just faking it, probably thinking about Derrick’s stupid plan.

      It had sounded great in the dark. The kidnapper couldn’t watch them every second. He had to go to the bathroom and when he did, they’d raise one of the windows, kick out the screen and make a run for it.

      They were fast. Derrick had won the relay race at school field day last year, and David had come in second. The kidnapper wouldn’t have a chance to catch them if they had a head start. Sure, they might get lost in the woods, but Derrick wasn’t worried about that. Uncle Matt had taken them camping lots of times and taught them all about survival. They’d find their way back to the road and wave down a passing car. Super easy.

      Problem was that while they were locked in the bedroom last night, the kidnapper had nailed wood over the rest of the windows. That had made Derrick really mad, but he wasn’t giving up. He just needed a better plan. He’d seen all the Home Alone movies a bunch of times. If that kid could take care of himself, so could Derrick and David.

      In fact he and David could do it better. There were two of them and only one jerky kidnapper. That’s why he wasn’t really all that afraid. He’d let them out of the bedroom this morning, but the house was sealed tight. The kidnapper had the key to the front door and the back door was nailed shut.

      The guy was lying on the lumpy old sofa now, whistling that same weird tune he was always whistling and watching a movie on the old TV that kept fading in and out. It looked like it could be a hundred years old, except their neighbor Billy Mack had told him they didn’t have television back then.

      Derrick waited for the commercial. The guy always hollered for him to shut up if he talked during the show. An advertisement for Dodge trucks popped up on the screen.

      “How come you live out here all by yourself?”

      “’Cause I’m not filthy rich like your parents.”

      “You could get a job and make some money.”

      “Don’t get smart with me, kid.”

      “I wasn’t.”